The Basics of Fly Fishing Series - The Wiggle Cast, Snake Cast, or Crooked CastA useful crooked cast to create slack in the line and leader is the wiggle cast. You wiggle the tip of the rod on the forward cast to create curves in the line. It works best when you shoot some line. This just adds some slack in the line to help achieve a drag free drift in situations where a straightened out fly line lands in current that would instantly drag your fly.

A wiggle or snake cast is really very easy to make but it's not exactly easy to control the accuracy of the cast. If you have to hit a precise point, it's difficult to do that with a wiggle cast. The wiggle cast is also called a Snake cast because your fly line lands on the water in the shape of a snake best described as a series of "S" curves. Some anglers, including me, just call it a crooked cast.

You just make a regular overhead cast like you normally would but as your making the forward power stroke part of the cast, shoot a few feet of line at the same time you wiggle the tip of the rod. Lower the rod at the end of the shoot such that the line falls on the water with some "S" curves in it.

The later you wait to wiggle the rod, the closer the curves will be to the rod. The earlier you wiggle the rod, the farther the curves will be from the rod. Wiggle quickly to place them near the end of the line or delay the wiggle slightly to place them near the rod. I prefer the curves end up near the end of the line when I'm making upstream presentations. I prefer them closer to the rod (further from the fly) when I'm making downstream presentations.

The wider the wiggles, the wider the "S" curves. The narrower the wiggles, the narrow the "S" curves.

Hendrickson Hatch - SpinnersThe highlight of a Hendrickson hatch is the spinner fall. This normally occurs near dark but it can begin much earlier in the afternoon on cloudy, heavily overcast days. The first of the spinner fall consist of the males or Red Quills. Shortly thereafter the females, or Hendrickson spinners will begin to deposit their eggs. As soon as they do, they too fall on the water in a spent position. Both the Red Quill spinners and the Hendrickson spinners die in a very short time. This entire deal takes place in about an hour or less. You can often catch several trout in a very short time.

These mayflies fall on the same water they hatched from. There can be a lot of spinners on the water at the same time and in a relatively small area. The fish usually find the current seams and remain in one position feeding on the spinners drifting helplessly downstream. If the spinner fall is heavy, the trout will develop a rhythm feeding on them.

Start out using an imitation of the male or Red Quill spinner. When the actionslows down or when you begin to see some females or Hendrickson spinners, change to an imitation of the female. The trout just sip the spinners in. They leave only a small rise ring and in low light situations it is often impossible to see them eating the spinners. It's also rare you can spot the spinners on the water. You should keep continuous checks overhead for them late in the afternoon. You can normally spot the spinners in the air provided you look up occasionally to check for them. Depending on the lighting situation, you can also spot the female spinners skimming across the surface of the water, dipping down to drop their eggs.

Sometimes downstream presentations are necessary to keep from spooking the trout that are feeding on the spinners. This usually happens where the water is fairly smooth and it often is near the ends of the pools. They also feed on these spinners at the very ends of the long runs and riffles in situations where the water slows down but it mostly occurs at the tail ends of the pools.